Durham College Students Inc. (DCSI) and the DC Musicians Club have partnered again to host a digital talent show called ‘Conquer the Mic’ Nov. 27
At the beginning of September, they hosted the Locals Only Showcase which was a digital concert streamed on (CAP R on riot and radio) Riot Radio and had more than 250 views, making it one of the top live streams on the station.
J. Atlas is a second year Music Business Management student at Durham College and a member of the Musicians Club and came up with the idea to create a talent show. He said because Locals Only had such a good turnout, the club wanted to do more.
“It all begins with last year, we used to have this event called Oshawa Music Week… and it got cancelled due to COVID,” said Atlas. “Our club is very hungry for having more events.”
He says having virtual events like this help create a sense of community at Durham College.
“None of our events would have been made possible without DCSI,” Atlas said.
He said DCSI gives the Musicians Club a platform to host events like Conquer the Mic.
Liz Morris, DCSI’s events and club coordinator, said Conquer the Mic is a talent show that’s open for students who are currently enrolled at Durham College.
“Students can submit their best performance for a chance to win some amazing prizes,” said Morris.
Once all the submissions are collected DCSI and the Musicians Club will pick the top 10 student performances to enter the semifinals.
Morris said the selection process for the semi-finals will work in two tiers.
The first criteria they will be looking at is video quality followed by an evaluation of the performance.
“From there we are going to have a concert where all of those performances are put into one show,” Morris said. “We invite students out to Zoom to vote on who they think is the best student artist.”
Once students have made their vote Morris said the top three selected will be brought back to participate in another show scheduled for January’s orientation week.
“It’s really important to us (DCSI) to create opportunities for students to have a similar experience to what they’re used to having while on campus,” Morris said.